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Second Sight Medical assessing business options following mass layoffs

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Second Sight MedicalSecond Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) announced today that it took steps to reduce overhead and conserve liquidity ahead of potential partnering, acquiring, or combining with businesses.

The maker of visual prosthetic implants for blind individuals announced last month that it was winding down its operations amid the financial shock of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, Second Sight said it would lay off 84 of its 108 employees and will retain an adviser experienced in winding down operations to guide the board on the next steps. Company officials expected additional layoffs.

Today, the Los Angeles-based company said in a news release that it is assessing its strategic options, which include securing additional funding and exploring business alternatives such as partnering, acquiring, investing in or combining with businesses that may not be in a related industry.

While the company can’t guarantee that any of the options will occur, it said it remains encouraged by interim results from six subjects implanted with its Orion visual cortical prosthesis system. Second Sight believes there is potential to advance the technology into larger clinical studies to treat profound blindness arising from nearly all forms of preventable blindness.

“Since taking over as the acting CEO, we have been able to attract interest from unrelated third parties that may enable us to secure value from the intellectual property we have built and which gave rise to several new strategic opportunities that could enhance enterprise value for all of our stakeholders,” acting CEO Matthew Pfeffer said in the release. “We are in a fluid situation and intend to provide further updates on a regular basis as warranted.”

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